294 SALAMANPER. 



almost immediately convulsed, and dying in a 

 very short time afterwards. 



The Salamander is a viviparous species ; pro- 

 ducing its young perfectly formed, having been 

 first hatched from internal eggs, as in the Viper, 

 and some other Amphibia. It is said to retire to 

 the water in order to deposit its young, which, at 

 their first exclusion, are furnished with ramified* 

 branchial fins or processes on each side the neck, 

 and which being merely temporary organs, are 

 afterwards obliterated, as in the young of frogs 

 and water-newts. The number of young pro- 

 duced at one birth by the Salamander is said 

 sometimes to amount to thirty or forty. 



* On this subject some confusion and disagreement will be 

 found to take place in the works of different naturalists ; Mr. 

 Latreille seems to doubt very much whether the Salamander 

 really produces her young in the water, as well as whether they 

 are at first furnished with ramified branchial fins. 



